>I am really starting to wonder if a conspiracy really does exist, and if so, who really is responsible for it. A conspiracy in the sense that someone, somewhere wants to incite a world war between non-Muslims and Muslims. At first I thought it was focused on America, but given the cartoons (which are blasphemy but the violence is far too intense and widespread for that and also the Muslim world has printed worse themselves in their own papers in their own countries and depicted Muhammad in books in the past), the recently released film of British soldiers beating Iraqi youths from years ago, and the recent release of photos at the prison during 2003. Also, what about the anti-semetic tv series in Jordan? In some ways, this really is the pot calling the kettle black. And to imagine that the whole cartoon fiasco was started by a Danish Muslim group looking for recognition, dialog and respect...
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>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/11/MNGRCH6UQO1.DTL

The NY Times had a similar article indicating that the cartoons were mostly ignored, until some groups kept pushing for a greater reaction to them. Plus the orignal cartoons had racist ones added to them that would of course incite violence.

A guy like Bin Laden for some reason wants to keep poking the west with a stick. Look at 9/11, strategicly for him this was a bad move, since it eliminated his bases of operation in Afghanistan (I think other too like the Sudan and Pakistan) and he lives on the run the Afghan/Pakistan mountains. Al qaeda appears to be a mere shell of what it once was. So his aim must be to draw the west into a war, which he either hopes:
1) the west will lose (militarily the west can't lose)
2) the west will look bad attacking the 3rd world people (maybe we are seeing this unfold in Iraq)

The major flaw in either strategy is that the west cares about the middle east now and for the next 20 years because they need in the oil. But when the oil runs out, they will get as much notice as Africa does.